A South Korean court on Monday sentenced ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol to two years in prison for illegally receiving manipulated public opinion polls from a political broker. Prosecutors argued that these polls helped him secure his party’s nomination for the 2022 presidential election in exchange for political support.
This case is one of seven against the former conservative president, who was impeached last year after briefly declaring martial law in December 2024, triggering the country’s biggest political crisis in decades. Last week, the Supreme Court upheld a seven-year prison sentence for Yoon, marking the first of his cases to reach the country’s highest court since his removal from office.
Yoon has appealed some of the verdicts, including a life sentence handed down in February for the most serious charge of insurrection stemming from his failed attempt to seize power. His lawyers stated they would also appeal Monday’s court decision, arguing it was based on insufficient evidence. The Seoul Central District Court found that Yoon violated the country’s laws on political activity financing.
Sentence for Political Broker
Political broker Myung Tae-kyun was sentenced to one and a half years in prison on the same charge. Myung was accused of conducting 14 free public opinion polls for Yoon from June to October 2021 using manipulated data, which prosecutors said aided Yoon in securing his party’s nomination for the presidential election prior to his victory in March 2022.
The political broker sought to have former lawmaker Kim Yong-sun nominated as a candidate from the conservative People Power Party in the 2022 by-elections. The court found that Yoon exerted undue influence on his party to fulfill Myung’s request in exchange for the manipulated polls.
Political Crisis and Impeachment
Yoon’s unexpected declaration of martial law late on the evening of December 3, 2024, which lasted only a few hours, plunged the country into chaos. Lawmakers broke through a blockade of heavily armed soldiers and police at the National Assembly in Seoul and voted to cancel the measure, forcing Yoon’s cabinet to rescind it.
Yoon was impeached by the liberal legislature later that month and was officially removed by the Constitutional Court. After being released from custody in early 2025, he was re-arrested in July 2026 and has since been standing trial in several criminal cases while in custody.
Source: AP
